The very instant the new CBA was ratified, NHL general managers and capologists began looking at ways to circumvent it.
The New York Islanders found one. Sitting just barely above the cap’s base floor of $44 million, Isles GM Garth Snow needed to “prop up” his look.
In Boston, GM Peter Chiarelli was already treading water at the $70.2 million threshold with $5 million in dead cap money sitting there against him in the form of goalie Tim Thomas, who is retired, but hasn’t said so officially, so his contract remains in force.
Officially, the Bruins had Thomas on suspension.
So what happens? Both the Bruins and Isles did each other a favor. Snow took Thomas off Chiarelli’s hands, forking over a conditional second-round draft pick in 2014 or 2015.
“Such an obvious cap move for the Islanders,” said one disgusted Board of Governor.
The Isles already have Rick DiPietro and Evgeni Nabokov. Yeah, let’s add Tim Thomas, too, just for show.